White House requests $60.4 billion for Sandy recovery

Dec. 10, 2012 - 12:52PM
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The White House has asked for $60.4 billion in funding to help areas affected by superstorm Sandy. (Mandel Ngan / AFP)

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The White House on Friday requested $60.4 billion in funding for construction and repair projects in the path of superstorm Sandy.

“As the impacted region addresses the damage caused by the hurricane, the administration believes additional federal resources are necessary to fund response, recovery, and mitigation efforts,” Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a Dec. 7 letter to Congress.

The request provides $11.5 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for direct aid to disaster survivors and to rebuild public infrastructure, and an additional $9.7 billion in borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Fund.

The proposal also includes:

 $3.8 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers for projects to reduce future flooding in areas affected by the storm.

 $348 million for the National Park Service for repairs at Statute of Liberty Island and Ellis Island in New York and other national parks.

 $33 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to repair research and monitoring facilities and evaluate the storm’s impact on coastal fisheries and habitats.

 $21 million to replace medical equipment that was damaged or destroyed at the Veterans Affairs Department Manhattan Medical Center, which had to be evacuated after the storm and has been closed after water flooded lower levels.

 $7 million for the General Services Administration to repair buildings damaged by the storm.

 $4.4 million for the Forest Service to repair property and roads at the Grey Towers National Historic Site in Pennsylvania, the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.